Prosperous season lends hope to golf course

After their first year on the job operating the course, the Prince Rupert Golf Society (PRGS) have wrapped up a gorgeous summer on the greens.

Though the financials from 2014 are still being worked out and should be ready for a society meeting in December, the Prince Rupert Golf Course made a number of upgrades to the clubhouse and courses, all while trying to get out of their current debt, which was exacerbated by a $25,583 loss in 2013.

The club installed a new roof to the tune of $23,500 and renovated the pro shop but the members avoided footing a large bill as the upgrades were provided by a community foundation grant, a sponsorship program and volunteer labour, said PRGS general manager Judy Fraser.

“Overall, I think we had a good summer. We definitely learned a lot … we’re just getting our financial figures together but I’d say we should end up in a better position than we were at the end of last season,” said Fraser.

However, sinking numbers for club tournaments was a concern, despite beautiful summer weather.

“The tournament numbers were definitely down from the past but I think that has a lot to do with how busy people are and not being able to get the time off [from work] – we may have to look at some different dates for our tournaments and split things up a little bit [from week to week],” she added.

Participants from out of town were able to make it to most of the summer’s gatherings and Fraser mentioned that numbers for Terrace and Kitimat’s tourneys are down as well as Rupert’s.

Moving forward, the society has a number of things on the go that they hope to implement in the coming year.

“We have a project in mind to make the driving range flatter and easier to collect balls [which will] hopefully be one of our winter projects,” she said.

This past summer, new golf carts were leased for the course, and new mats were installed at the range.

Fraser added that scrambles and charity tournaments held by various citizens and organizations in Prince Rupert helped with 2014 revenue along with new initiatives like ladies’ orientation night, two-for-one Mondays and drop-in Thursdays.

“We’ve had requests to do men’s orientation,” said Fraser, mentioning it will be something they’ll look at for next year.

“I believe from what I’ve seen we should be in a better financial position than last year. It’s still not great. It’s not a debt you’re going to pay off in one season but I think we’re heading in the right direction.”

The end-of-year society meeting for the PRGS will take place in early December.